R. Franklin’s Original Recipe Bësk

This wormwood-based liqueur is not technically Malört—not since last October, when Jeppson’s, the original maker of Chicago’s mascot Schnapps, blocked other local distillers from using the name. The effort from Letherbee reaches back to the mother tongue for its name—bësk means “bitter” in Swedish—and is a shade less harsh than the gasoliney shot most Chicagoans shudder to remember. One measure of its palatability: This bësk is getting mixed into cocktails at the hot bars all over town.